1. Life of Pi
Author’s Note-Chapter 14

2. Chapter Summary
 In the opening chapters of Life of Pi, we
are introduced to two separate narrators
and narratives. One of the narrators is
the author and his narrative of writing the
book; the second is adult Pi and the
recollection of his life.
 The Author’s Note gives us the
background story of how the author
came to write this book. We learn that he
began to write a novel about Portugal in
1939, but during his trip to India, he
abandons that idea. Instead, he is told
about a story that “will make [him]
believe in God” (x).

3. Chapter Summary
 Chapters 1-3 introduce us to the
character of Pi. In chapter 1, we learn that
adult Pi graduated with degrees in
zoology and religious studies while living
in Canada. Chapter 2 is the author’s
narrative in which we get a physical
description of adult Pi. In chapter 3, we
learn about Mamaji and the reason Pi’s
full name is Piscine Molitor Patel.

4. Chapter Summary
 In chapter 4 we are reintroduced to the
theme of zoology and religion. Pi tells us
about the zoo his family owned in
Pondicherry and the similarities he sees
between animal behavior and human
religious behavior.
 In chapter 5, we return to the theme of
Pi’s name. We learn that Pi tires of the
constant teasing of his full name and
shortens his name to Pi, after the
mathematical number 3.14 and Greek

5. Chapter Summary
 Chapter 6 is part of the Author’s narrative
and we learn that adult Pi stocks a wide
variety of food stuffs.
 Chapter 7 introduces us to Mr. Kumar and
Pi’s observation that in life one must
believe in something.
 In chapter 8, Pi learns a valuable lesson
about the dangers of anthropomorphizing
animals.

6. Chapter Summary
 In Chapters 9-11 and 13-14, Pi expands
on his theories of animal behavior. We
learn that animals crave familiarity and
order. Animals feel the need to
understand and control their
surroundings. Similarly they crave some
kind of order or hierarchy, so they know
their place. Pi implies that man isn’t all
that different.
 Chapter 12 is part of the Author’s
narrative and we learn that Pi’s story (and

7. Themes
 There are several intertwined themes introduced in
these opening chapters. However this presentation
will focus on the nature of belief and human/animal
behavior.
 In the author’s note we are told that Pi’s story “will
make [one] believe in God” (x). This seems to imply
that at some level this novel will address the issue of
faith and belief. This idea is further reinforced in
Chapter 8, when Pi tells of Mr. Kumar, his atheist
biology teacher. Although Pi doesn’t agree with Mr.
Kumar’s beliefs, he respects the fact that Mr. Kumar
believes in something. Pi lets us know that people
must believe in something and reasons that “to

8. Themes
 A great deal of this section of the book deals
with animal behavior and its similarity to
human behavior. In chapter 4, Pi tells us that
animals are conservative in the sense that
“they want things to be just so, day after day,
month after month” (16). He says that
humans are the exact same way. What
animals (and humans) “hate above all
else…is the unknown” (41). All animals
(including humans) crave security and
control. Furthermore, he claims that humans
mistakenly think that animals in zoos crave
the “freedom” of the wild. Pi believes that
these “illusions about freedom” plague both
zoos and religion (19).

9. Themes
 Similarly, animals also need some kind of
social order or hierarchy. He claims that
“until it knows its rank for certain, the
animal lives a life of unbearable anarchy”
(44). Pi uses the example of the circus
lion tamer to show how this theory works.
He says that social control is
psychological in nature not physical. The
circus lion tamer manipulates the lion’s
fear and doubt in order to “make it clear
to it where it stands, the very thing it
wants to know” (44).

10. Keyword Definitions
 Animalus Anthropomorphicus
 Context: “Father believed there was another
animal more dangerous to us…the
redoubtable species Animalus
anthropomorphicus” (31).
 Definition: “the animal as seen through
human eyes” (31) or giving animals human
characteristics or values.
 Significance: Pi states that there is danger in
understanding animals as having human
qualities and that this action is extremely
arrogant of man to do so.

11. Keyword Definitions
 Agnostic
 Context: “It is not atheists who get stuck in
my craw, but agnostics” (28).
 Definition: “one who is not committed to
believing in either the existence or the
nonexistence of God or a god” (Webster's
Dictionary).
 Significance: In Pi’s opinion, an agnostic is
someone who lives in constant doubt. Pi
firmly believes that one has to make a
decision on what to believe.

12. Keyword Definition
 Hejira
 Context: “But just as he planned his flight to
Medina, the Hejira that would mark the
beginning of Muslim time” (21).
 Definition: “the flight of Muhammad from
Mecca to Medina in 622 which marked the
beginning of the Muslim era; the Muslim
calendar begins in that year” (dictionary.com)
 Significance: In this passage, Pi equates his
“flight” from his full name Piscine to Pi with
the prophet Muhammad’s flight. It also marks
a new “time” for him.

13. Discussion Questions
 In the Author’s Note, Martel defines the
purpose of fiction as “the selective
transforming of reality” and “the twisting of
[reality] to bring out its essence” (viii). What
does this mean and how might this view affect
we read Life of Pi?
 Similarly, Martel also says that “If we, citizens,
do not support our artists, then we sacrifice
our imagination on the alter of cruel reality and
we end up believing in nothing and having
worthless dreams” (xii). What is the
significance of this statement? How does it
directly relate to what Pi says in his narrative.

14. Discussion Questions
 In Chapter 4, Pi goes to great lengths to let us
know that zoo animals don’t really want
“freedom” from the zoos, as humans
mistakenly think. He says that religion, like
zoos, are faced with “certain illusions about
freedom” (19). What does he mean? Is this
positive or negative?
 About his name, Pi says that “in that Greek
letter that looks like a shack with a corrugated
tin roof, in that elusive, irrational number with
which scientists try to understand the
universe, I found refuge” (24). What is the
significance of this statement. How does it
relate to everything else he says?

15. Discussion Questions
 Pi says that “the obsession with putting
ourselves at the centre of everything is the
bane not only of theologians but also of
zoologists” (31). What might this mean? How
is this significant in terms of what he says
about the similarities between zoos and
religion?